


Oblivious Flirting

by angelsfalling16



Series: Tumblr Ficlets [16]
Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: Flirting, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pre-Relationship, deNiall, oblivious boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:20:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27046363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelsfalling16/pseuds/angelsfalling16
Summary: Prompt: what about a deniall mutual pining but then both being stupid and not picking up on any of the other’s “tells”Moments when Dev and Niall are completely oblivious to the fact that the other has feelings for them until they finally figure it out.
Relationships: Dev & Niall & Tyrannus Basilton "Baz" Pitch, Dev/Niall (Simon Snow)
Series: Tumblr Ficlets [16]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868155
Comments: 2
Kudos: 39





	Oblivious Flirting

**Author's Note:**

> _Originally posted to Tumblr on July 24, 2019 ___

“I still don’t know why you spell your eyes a different color. They look just fine as their natural color.” Dev says, crossing his arms as he watches Niall reapply the spell.

“I don’t think anyone actually thinks that.”

“I do.”

“You don’t count.”

“What?” Dev asks, his heart sinking, thinking that he doesn’t matter to Niall.

“You’re my friend. You have to say nice things to me.”

“Not necessarily.” He’s a little relieved that he misunderstood what Niall meant, but he still wishes that he thought differently. “But I really do think that the brown color is nice.”

Niall sighs, considering Dev’s words for a moment, looking at his reflection in the mirror. Finally, he shakes his head and spells them anyway. Dev doesn’t say anything about it, but Niall can see that he wants to.

“Come on. Let’s go to class.”

Dev nods and follows him out of the room.

After a moment, Baz follows after them, wondering why he needed to come with them when they seem to only have eyes for each other. He’d much rather be making fun of Simon for something and trying to get his attention. It definitely beats watching these two fall for each other and not notice it.

***

“Your hair is messed up. Here, let me help you.”

Dev holds his breath, fighting to keep his eyes open as Niall runs his fingers through his hair to straighten it out.

Baz, who is sitting across from them, raises his eyebrows at the pair. He knows for a fact that there was nothing wrong with Dev’s hair. It also hasn’t escaped his notice that Niall hasn’t been spelling the color of his eyes the past couple of days.

When Baz asked him about it, he explained it off by saying that he didn’t want to waste the magic for something so small, but Baz could see through it. He knows Niall did it for Dev.

Niall leaves his fingers in Dev’s hair for longer than necessary and hopes that Dev won’t notice. He loves the way that the soft strands slip through his fingers, and this is the only chance that he’ll have to touch it.

When he finally removes his hand, Baz watches as they avoid eye contact, both of their cheeks turning a light shade of pink.

***

“Dev,” Baz says again, trying to get the other boy’s attention.

“Sorry,” Dev says, shaking himself and turning back to face him. “What?”

Baz fights not to roll his eyes at him, knowing exactly what was distracting him.

The class has been paired up, working on a new spell, and Baz isn’t sure why Dev and Niall didn’t just decide to pair up together since neither of them can seem to stop watching each other.

Baz wonders whether he should say something about the two of them, but he doesn’t want to push them into something that they aren’t ready for, so he keeps his mouth shut and continues to practice the spell with a distracted Dev.

It isn’t long before Dev stutters out the spell, his eyes once again drawn to Niall’s movements nearby. This time, Niall is watching Dev, too. They exchange warm smiles before turning away from each other, and Dev is still smiling as he tries the spell again.

Baz watches his with annoyance, but really, he’s hoping that they’ll get it together sometime soon and realize how they feel about each other.

***

Dev sits down close to Niall on the lawn, his hand coming to rest on Niall’s arm in the pretense of steadying himself. He lets it linger there for a long moment before letting go.

Dev, Niall, and Baz are doing homework on the lawn because it’s a nice day, and they didn’t want to spend it in the library. Baz isn’t sure how much studying they’re going to get done, though, if the oblivious flirting has already begun.

Baz tries to ignore them, but he looks up when Niall, says, “wait.”

His hand rests on Dev’s wrist, pulling his arm to the side so that he can get a better look at what Dev is writing.

Baz watches as Niall’s hand slides just a bit lower until the two of them are practically holding hands, and he can’t believe that neither of them seem to be aware of it, pulling their hands away and returning to their work like it was nothing.

He wants to yell at them, make them see what’s happening, but he bites his tongue. They’ll figure it out eventually. (He hopes so anyway.)

There are countless more unnecessary touches between the two of them over the next hour and a lot of flirtatious banter passed between them, and Baz is surprised to see that they actually seem to be working better together today, rather than being too distracted.

***

Baz lets himself into Dev and Niall’s room like he usually does, but what he sees inside is not usual.

“Finally,” Baz says, smiling just the slightest as his two best friends jump apart.

“You’re one to talk,” Dev says, rolling his eyes, blushing as he reaches for Niall’s hand.

“What?”

“When are you going to tell Simon how you feel about him?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Baz says before turning and walking out of the room, leaving the happy couple to themselves and thinking that he should probably knock from now on.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! <3


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